Specially designed cages are used to house chicken, poultry, or other animals in egg production facilities. The cages include systems for automatically retrieving eggs laid by the animals. The automatic retrieval of the eggs minimizes manual labor costs, while the prompt removal of eggs from the cages ensures that the eggs remain clean and intact (not broken), and that the eggs can be cooled or otherwise processed without delay.
In cage-free facilities, the chicken, poultry, or other animals are free to move around enclosures within the facility. The enclosures generally include nests or other areas specially designed for laying eggs, and systems for automatically retrieving eggs from the nests. However, since the animals can move around the enclosures freely, the animals also lay eggs in non-nest areas within the enclosures. The systems for automatically retrieving the eggs generally cannot retrieve eggs laid outside of the nests, and such eggs are either retrieved manually by workers or lost. Around 20% of the eggs in cage-free facilities are laid outside of the nests, and the loss of these eggs can greatly affect the profitability of egg production facilities.